Vending machine



Nov. 10, 1931. L. A. HURLBURT VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Place 0? in slot and turn crank 10 the right.

Nova 10, 1931. L. A. HURLBURT VENDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb.27. 1928 Patented Nov. 10, 1931 UNITED STATES LEW A. HURLBURT, or PERRY,Iowa (VENDING MACHINE Application filed February 27,. 1928. Serial No.257,370.

The object of my invention is to provide a vending machine of simple,durable, and comparatively inexpensive construction.

A further object of my invention is to provide a vending machine in theform of a stand or support with a plurality of containers rotatablysupported on this stand and adapted to contain various articles such asbars of candy to be vended;

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in connection witheach of thecontainers a coin operated trip mechanism for opening thecontainer for removing the bar of candy therefrom.

Still a further object is to so construct the machine that the coinsinserted in each of the mechanisms will be conducted to a common trayand deposited therein.

Still a further objectis to provide means of access to the tray whichmeans consists of a pair of locks one of which can be opened by a keyheld by the manufacturer of the machine and the otherto be opened by akey held by the operator of a restaurant. or drug store 1n which themachine is placed so that in order to open the device and obtain thecoins from the tray, both these keys must be used.

Still a further object is to provide a pointer on the machine with theinstructions that any jbar desired can be obtained by rotating thevending machine .so that the container for that bar is in line withthepointer, the coin operated mechanism for the container being arranged toreceive a coin only when moved to such position. a a A With these andother objects invview my invention consists in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Although the invention is susceptible of a variety ofembodiments, it is'unnecessary to fully describe and illustrate morethan one in order to give a full understanding of the invention bothfrom its structural and functional standpoints. Accordingly, I haveillustrated a preferred and desirable embodi ment of the invention inthe accompanying drawings in which: 1 a

Figure 1 is a side elevation ofja vending machine embodying my inventionand illus-' trating a p'luralityof thecontainers assem bledonadrum. I

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the vending machine on theline 2'-2 of Figure '1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sec-- 1 tional View on the line33-of Figure 2 illustrating the coin receiving and operating mechanismof one of the vending units;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4:

of Figure 2 illustrating the drum in section and,

Figure Figure 1. v

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference character A toindicate gener ally a supporting stand. The stand A is 8 is a sectionalview on line 88 of provided with a'plurality of legs 10 whereby thedevice may be supported on the floor. Extending through a squaredopening 12 formed in the upper end of the: stand A is a bolt 14. A nut16 is positioned on the bolt 14 and against the stand A for rigidlymounting the bolt relative to the stand.

Beyond the nut 16 the bolt 14 is round as. indicated at 14a and a drum18 is rotatably mounted thereon. The drum 18 is provided with anintegrally formed head'20 and aremovable head 22 having a peripheralflange 24. At two points on the flange 2 L lock devices 26 are provided,each of which maybe unlocked by a key. I

My device is primarily designed to be placed in restaurants, drugstores,etc., by a manufacturer who takes care of filling the vendingmachine and collecting the coin therefrom. The restaurant or drug storein which the device'is mounted participates in Figure 7 is a View of heinstruction card,

sharing the coin received in the machine and therefore the owner of thestore and the owner of the machine each have a key so that the drum 18cannot be open except by-both keys at once.

A nut 28 is provided on the portion 14a of the bolt 14. for preventingend play of the drum: 18. Beyond the nut 28 the bolt 14 is squared asindicated at 14?). On the portion 147) I mount a disk 30 having thereonan arrow 32 and directions 34 for manipulating supporting pipe 46.- Thesupporting pipe 46 is also screw threaded into one of the openings36 ofthe drum18. Lock nuts 48 may be provided for insuringa rigid connectionbetween the unit B and the supporting drum 18.

Slidably mounted in guideways 50 formed inv the casing 38 is a plate52.- The plate 52 has secured to the bottom thereof a rod 54 extending.into. aspring. casing 56.. The casing 56may be screwed into the casing38 or otherwise supported thereon. Mounted on the rod 54 and extendingfrom the bottom of theca'sing 56 to-a pin 58 is a spring 60 whichnormally tends to move the plate 52in the direction of the arrow 62.

Supported on. the casing 38 is a cage 64 made of woven wire or similarmaterial whereby a eandybar 66 therein may be seen by an operator of thevending machine. The endsof the casing 66 are normally formed by apairof end members 68 secured to the plate 52;. In whatI shall term as anormal position, the members 68 are in alignment with the ends of thecage 64 whereby access to the bar 66 therein may not be normally had.

For holding the: plate 52 in such normal position I providea latch bar70 whiclrcoacts with a notch 72 formed in the lower surface of the plate52. The latch bar 70 is constrained to engage the notch 72 by beingmounted on spring. arms 74 which have their ends secured to the casing38. The arms 74 extend beyond the latch' bar 7 0 to form a loop 76. Theloop 76 is normally'positioned adjacent a' cylinder 80 mountedon a shaft82. The shaft 82 is rotatably'mounted relative to the casing 38 andterminates outside of the casing; in a: crank portion 84. The cylinder80 is provided with a coin receiving slot 86 adapted to receive, forinstance, a nickel. The slot 86 is shaped as illustrated in dotted linesin Figure 5. of the drawings whereby a nickel. 80' received. thereinwill project beyond the surface of the cylinder as illustrated. In casea penny or dime is inserted in the slot 86 it will fall through theopening instead of projecting beyond the surface of the cylinder.

The lid 40 is provided with a lip 90 adapted to prevent rotation of thecrank 84 in the wrong direction. After a nickel has been placed in theslot 86 the crank 84 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 92 wherebythe pro jecti'ng portion of the nickel engages the loop 76 for movingthe latch bar 70 downwardly and causing its disengagement from the notch72. Further rotation of the cylinder 80 will drop the nickel into thecasing 38.

Assoon as the latch bar 7 0 disengages-from the notch 72 the spring 60will move the plate 52 to the dotted line position illustrated in Figure6 of. the drawings so that the candy bar 66 may be easily removed frombetween the members 68 which are now, clear of the cage 64. The cage 64may be refilled by placing another bar between the member 68 and pushingthe plate 52 in a direction opposite to the arrow 62 whereupon thespring arms 74 cause the latch bar 7 O to engage the notch 72 intheplate.

Since the cylinder 80 is free to rotate, the crank 84, due to gravity,will always assume a position hanging downwardly. Since the drum 80rotates, it is necessary to have the crank 84 in a predeterminedpositionin order that the proper end of the slot 86 will be in alignment withthe slot 94 formed in the lid 40 of the casing 38. I therefore providethe pointer 32 on the disk 30 so that when any particular candy bar-inany of the vending units is to be sold, that unit may be brought toposition indicated by the head of the arrow. The cylinder 80 on thatparticular unit will then be in proper coin receiving position due tothe force of gravity acting on the handle 84. v 7

If desired, the sides of the units B may have advertising matter printedthereon whereby the device may act as an advertising stand; As the drum18 is rotated by various operators to obtain the candy bars which theydesire the coins deposited in the various casings 38 will travel bygravity through:

the pipes 46 to the inside of the drum 18. To catch these coins Iprovide a tray '96, depending from the-portion 14a of the bolt 14. Inthis manner the coin from all the various units B may be conducted toone reception point. from which they may be removed by the removal ofthe disk 30 and nut 28 and the unlocking and removal of the head 22 of"the drum 18.

In the'ven ding machine illustrated I have vided for the display of eachof the candy bars so that the operator of the vending machine can choosewhich one he wants and obtain it by rotating the drum 18 to the properposition and then inserting a nickel 1n the slot 94 and rotating thecrank 84 to release the plate 52' and thereby gain access to the barbetween the end members 68.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose ofmy invention,' and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A vending machine comprising a drum rotatably mounted, a plurality oftubes extending therefrom, containers mounted on the outer ends of saidtubes and means op-' eratively associated with each container foropening the same upon the reception of a coin in said means, said meansincluding aspring, said tubes serving to space said containers from saiddrum whereby said spring may have room to function properly when mountedto extend from said container toward said drum. Des Moines, Iowa,February 20,, 1928.

LEW A. HURLBURT.

